How Financial Services Advertisers Can Get The Most From Online Display Campaigns

Written by eMarketer

21 Mar 2011

Rich media engages users beyond the first impression

Standard banner clickthrough rates across the web are notoriously low. But adding visual interest to display ads can help improve rates, according to a March 2011 report from MediaMind (formerly Eyeblaster).

The digital advertising firm found that adding rich media and video to a brand’s online marketing arsenal can significantly boost campaign performance.

According to the study, internet users dwelled for more than 1 second on 426 of every 10,000 financial services impressions that were served between November 2009 and October 2010.

Of every 10,000 impressions, 92 were interacted with, nine were clicked on and about 16 resulted in conversion.

The fact that relatively few internet users click on financial services ads emphasizes the importance of engaging consumers beyond the critical first impression.

MediaMind found that rich media executions not only encourage interaction with brand messaging, but also increase clickthrough rates by 300% for financial services as compared with standard banners.

MediaMind concluded that this is because moving images grab viewers’ attention, enable advertisers to tell their brands’ stories and convey essential details that further entice consumers to seek additional information.

The study also found that financial services ads perform well when placed in context with other types of content.

For example, floating ads, homepage takeovers and skin formats placed within travel, auto, entertainment and news environments had conversion rates of 0.25% and higher, well above the 0.17% industry average for direct response.